Crowing with delight at Kolkata Knight Riders finishing champions in the Indian Premier League (IPL), batsman Manoj Tiwary said Monday they would start favourites at the Champions League Twenty20 tournament starting October.
“Of course we are favourites in the Champions League after having won the IPL. Everyone will expect us to win the tournament,” said Tiwary.

The right-hander, who fashioned KKR’s win in the final against Chennai Super Kings Sunday with a boundary, praised the team’s new player recruits and collective spirit for the success.

“Players like Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan were taken in as they had done well for other franchises. We had a very good team combination and that was crucial,” he said.

Referring to previous editions of the IPL where KKR played poor cricket, Tiwary said “somewhere down the line the chemistry was missing and things did not fall in place”.

SRK’s video strategy worked wonders for KKR
Was it a motivational video that Shah Rukh Khan showed to the Kolkata Knight Riders hours before the Indian Premier League final that helped charge up the team and see them to victory? So say key players.

The video featured pet talks and messages of support by family members of the cricketers.
“It was very inspirational,” said Manoj Tiwary whose parents were shown wishing him the best for the match against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. Manvinder Bisla, who cracked a scintillating 89, also agreed with Tiwary.

Mamata to felicitate IPL champs KKR
 Elated at the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title, the West Bengal government will felicitate the victorious city franchise in a ceremony at the Eden Gardens, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday.

“This is a big achievement. The team from the city has won and we are all proud of that. Shah Rukh (Khan) is our brand ambassador and his team has won, so we want to felicitate the winners on behalf of the state government,” Banerjee said at the state secretariat.

The IPL champions will also participate in a road show Tuesday starting from Hazra Crossing in the south of the city and going to the state secretariat, the Writers’ Buildings. The show will culminate at the Eden Gardens where the felicitation ceremony will be organised.

The road show, scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Tuesday, will witness the participation of many state ministers. “I will personally welcome the victorious team at the Writers’ (Buildings) and then we all head to the Eden Gardens where in a ceremony the team will be felicitated,” added Banerjee.

A big cake with KKR’s slogan “Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo re” (We will do it, we will fight it out, we will win it) written on it will be cut, while Bengali band Chandrabindu will perform. The felicitation ceremony will be open to all and entry to the stadium will be free. KKR defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets Sunday to lift their maiden IPL title.

KKR was destined to win: Sourav Ganguly
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Monday hailed the maiden victory of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, saying the team was destined to win and credited little-known Manvinder Singh Bisla for the triumph.

“After the first six overs in the KKR innings, I thought 191 was gettable. I thought KKR was destined to win. Bisla batted superbly. It was clean hitting.

He played out of his skin,” Ganguly said. Bisla never allowed the pressure to choke him and along with Jacques Kallis did not allow the required run rate to go out of control, Ganguly, who was also a former KKR captain, said. He went on to say, “Kolkata Knight Riders are deserving winners. Chennai Super Kings never seemed as consistently good as the Knights.”